Eden
by Shido Tooyu
Summary: After an accident during a routine clean-up mission; many secrets come out about Duo, his past, and who he really is... (R for disturbing content)


**Eden**

Disclaimer: No Own so No Sue  
Fandom: Gundam Wing  
Genre: Romance/Supernatural/Drama  
Rating: R for disturbing content  
Notes: Changes of POV aren't labelled, but hopefully it should be easy enough to work out who is talking.   
Summary: After an accident during a routine clean-up mission; many secrets come out about Duo, his past, and who he really is...  
  
  
  
**It was meant to be a routine clean-up mission. I was supposed to go in and dispose of mobile suits left over from the war.  
No one warned me that they would fight back.****  
  
  
Today is just another normal, dull mission. Go into factory; destroy a bunch of redundant mobile suits. Not too difficult, although Heero is heading over to help. It just gets the job done quicker, I suppose. The faster all of the mobile suits are gone, the faster we five get to live like ordinary people. Well, as close to ordinary as you can get, being an ex-Gundam pilot.  
I smirk as I land my buddy, Deathscythe Hell, down through a newly-sliced hole in the roof of the darkened factory. This should take me no time at all. I push a few buttons; the active cloak opening out and my beam scythe getting ready for action.  
My eyes widen as each mobile suit's visor opens and lights up. There must be at least 40 Taurus in front of me, and probably at least that behind.  
"Shit."  
I begin slashing my scythe around, taking out a few suits here and there. I know I can't take all of these on myself.  
"Where the hell is Heero?!"  
A suit hits me from behind, smacking Deathscythe forward and me into the screen in front of me. I cough for a moment before vomiting up blood. I wipe my mouth and flick off any blood from the back of my hand before sliding back into the seat and bringing Deathscythe up again.   
"Fucking mobile dolls..." I swing the scythe around Deathscythe in a circle, hoping to hold them off long enough for Heero to turn up.  
It doesn't work. A blinding, white-hot pain penetrates my skin, spiralling through my spine, forward and out of my stomach seconds before I lose consciousness.  
  
  
A perfect circle of explosions lights up the factory in the distance. Deathscythe must already be fighting, even though he was told to wait for my arrival. This mission was marked as high-risk, as the possibility of the mobile dolls being live was very likely. Not that Deathscythe was told this; he hates fighting, even after being given the position of Gundam pilot.   
I command Zero to transform into its mobile suit form, and I land through the hole I assume Deathscythe must have made in the roof. Zero's feet barely touch the ground as I am alerted to the fact Deathscythe is down, Duo probably unconscious or hurt.  
Only a few shots with the twin-buster rifle, and I am looking over the fallen Gundam. Deathscythe has been hit, but there doesn't appear to be too much damage. It takes me a little over half an hour to finish off the mobile dolls, using the beam sabre; it is too dangerous to continue using the buster rifles on Earth. I command Zero to lean down and get hold of Deathscythe, before we jet off to safety.  
  
I clamber up to Deathscythe's cockpit and open it up. It is so dark inside the hold I can barely see as I pull Duo's body out. I put a hand to Duo's chest, confirming he is still breathing in its steady rise and fall. I carry him over to a small room with a couple of fold-up beds made up in it, laying him down on one of them.  
Just to make sure that he isn't wounded, I strip him down to his undergarments and check him over. I can't find a single mark on him, front or back, apart from a slightly red mark on his forehead where he must have knocked himself out. But from what I remember, Duo doesn't seem to bruise easily. I shrug and pull the sheets up over him, then lie myself down on another bed and close my eyes, the exhaustion of the day catching up to me.  
  
I open my eyes as light begins to filter through the gaps in between the curtains. I cast a glance over to Duo, who is sleeping peacefully, his back to me. I stretch myself out, getting ready for the day ahead. I should check the Gundams over; see if either need any repair work.   
I drag myself out of the comfortable warmth of the bed, and pull on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.   
The air in the hold is chilly, so I get to work quickly. I am hoisted up to Deathscythe's cockpit, completely unprepared for the sight that greets me.  
"This isn't possible..."  
I step back, covering my mouth. The screens and floor in front of the seat are covered in dried blood; the straps on his seat are broken… but the worst of it is the seat itself; there is a large, sharp piece of metal jutting out of the back of it, completely coated in blood, and what appears to be shards of bone.  
"It's not possible..."  
I turn away, jumping down from the Gundam, damaging my leg from the fall, but I don't care. I checked Duo over yesterday. There wasn't any marks on him at all, yet the details of his cockpit say he should be dead. I run back into the room, to check. I have to make sure of this.  
  
I stand at the side of his bed, his back to me as I take a couple of deep breaths.   
"Duo?" I say his name, reaching my hand out to shake him gently. He isn't a heavy sleeper, and he begins to stir. He turns himself to face me.   
"Hey, Heero..."  
My eyes widen. Duo looks completely different; his eyes are narrower, his face longer. He looks... older. Like he's aged years overnight.  
He sees my _expression, and looks down at himself, checking his hands.  
"Oh, shit..."  
  
  
Once again, memories come flooding back to me. Memories of many lives, of many deaths, memories of blood flowing; and the memory of who I am.  
I put my hands on my head, shaking side to side.   
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." I sense Heero putting his hand out toward me. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" I cry out.   
"...Duo..." I've scared him.   
"I'm sorry, Heero..."  
I stop shaking my head and look up at him. He is holding his hand close to his chest, fear clearly written on his face. I suppose dealing with this wasn't covered in his extensive training.   
"I'm so, so sorry..." I look away. "I'm not Duo. Well, not anymore."  
I hear him gasp. "Who...who are you, then?"  
I don't want to hurt him, but there isn't exactly an easy way of saying this.   
"I am Shinigami."  
"Duo, please, don't joke at a time like this..."  
I look up at him. "I'm not joking. I am Shinigami, and have been for many thousands of years. Duo was just an unfortunate child to be born with me sleeping within him. The person you knew as Duo died yesterday, in that battle. He was impaled through the spine, nobody could have prevented it." I sigh. "I just wish that you hadn't been there, because you shouldn't have to deal with this." My eyes mist over. Yea, Duo claimed that boys don't cry; but I'm not a boy anymore. I lost my innocence a long time ago.  
I expect Heero is going to go, to just leave. He should just get on with his life, his missions. Duo helped attain peace, and now he's given his life for it. I jump a little when Heero sits on the bed next to me.  
"How?" His voice sounds like that of a small child, curious, yet scared to ask.  
"How what?"  
"How did you become Shinigami?" I look down at my hands.   
"Are you sure you want to know?"  
He is silent for a moment. "...Yes, I am."  
I look up at him. I can see he is frightened, yet he does truly want to know.  
"It started many thousands of years ago, in my first life. I grew up in happy, peaceful times. No one knew the pain of war, of losing all of your friends and family. But when I grew up, I became twisted. I began to hate the people who had given me life, everyone that I knew. I became so obsessed with my hatred that I decided that they didn't deserve the lives that they had been given. I killed everyone I knew with whatever I could get my hands on." I pause for a moment, gauging his reaction. He nodded, encouraging me to go on.   
"I didn't stop there. I tried to get rid of the evidence, by burning the bodies. I became enthralled by the beauty of the flames as they danced over their bodies, returning them to the Earth from where they came. Once I had learnt the beauty of the dance of death, I couldn't stop. I killed more and more people, watching their blood flow from their dying bodies, and then watching the flames dance once more. Eventually, everyone in my village but for me was dead. Yet the hunger, the need to kill didn't stop. I set the entire village alight, and moved onto the next village, claiming that a freak fire had killed all but me. They welcomed me into their village. By this time, I was in my twenties." I stop there, looking at him. His face doesn't give anything of what he is thinking away. He is probably horrified; he has killed, but not like this. He was ordered to; I did it because I could. Because I wanted, needed to. I take a new breath before continuing.  
"By that time, I felt like I was God, deciding who could and could not live. I killed many in that village, but one was my downfall. A young one, who I was foolish enough to fall for; not that it stopped me from taking their life. I was…I wish I could say I was merciful, but the feelings I had made me crueler. I tortured them, prolonging their pain; I suppose I believed that the more blood they shed before dying, the more cleansed of my curse they would be. It was the first time I tasted another human's blood. I thought it was incredible, how pure it tasted even after all that I had bestowed upon the body. I didn't stop the torture, even after their spirit had left and the body was cooling. I whipped the body, wanting to draw more and more blood. Eventually, I grew bored with that and…" I stop speaking; I am shaking.  
"…Wha…what did you do then?" Heero sounds just like a child. My eyes meet his for a second, before I look away.  
"And then, I raped him." I hear Heero gasp. "Even in death, his body was beautiful. I took his innocence, his life, and I mutilated his body by taking him…then, for the first time since I began killing, I cried. I cradled his body to me and cried. It was then that I was caught. They tore him away and threw me into a cage. They called me a demon, a curse sent from the Gods; saying that no one could ever love nor want me. They beat my body, and I didn't care. All that kept running through my mind is that I had killed him; destroyed the only thing that could have saved me. I loved him, and he never had the chance to love me in return." I wipe away a couple of stray tears. "The people eventually decided that for my punishment, I was to die in the same fashion I had destroyed my victims; by the flame. They built a massive fire, and threw me into it. I remember them wanting to hear me scream, to hear me ask forgiveness from the Gods. I never gave it to them, I died in silence. But my journey was far from over. Once my spirit was released from my body, I was brought in front of the Gods for further punishment. They never asked if I wished forgiveness; they cursed me to live many lives on Earth, to experience the pains I had bestowed upon others until I am released, with the curse that should my current form die before the age I did in my first life, my true self will live in the body; which causes it to age prematurely." I lift a hand up to my face.  
"I…I will be dead once more by sundown; and this body will turn to dust. There will be no body for each life's loved ones to mourn… just the way my victims suffered."  
I look back at Heero. "I…I'm sorry."  
Heero stands up. "I need some time to process this…to get my head around it."  
"Fair enough. But…" He looks down at me. Although Duo has died, he will live within me until I am bestowed a new life. I can sense how he is feeling. "Tell the others that Duo is sorry."  
"…Okay." He walks out of the room, and I feel a massive wave of guilt flow over me for hurting Duo, and Heero. Although I sleep within a human until the day they die, I can still watch over them. I have grown fond of the part of me that became Duo, and every time my curse took away his loved ones... I know that for the suffering I bestowed upon others, I deserve the pain of infinite lives and infinite deaths...but when I see the faces of each life's loved ones, innocents that should never have been involved in my punishment...  
  
  
Sitting on the cold, hard foot of Zero, I think about things. The past, the war, the future...  
He...Duo...he'll be gone forever...I'll never see him again...  
I slam my fist down. "It's wrong!" I cry out.  
My body shakes as I open out my fist, caressing the metal of my Gundam. "One day, even you will be gone..." I hear the noise of the door opening and look towards it. Shinigami is standing in the doorway.  
"...Heero..."  
I jump from the foot of Zero and run to him. I stop in front of him, and take the advice offered to me when I was still a child; I follow my emotions. I put my arms around him, leaning my head into the base of his neck.  
"I wish you could stay alive, stay with me... whatever you did in the past... even if the Gods couldn't forgive you... I can..." Heero tightened his grip a little. "I _have_...because I love you..." A whimper emitted from his open lips. "...Duo..."  
  
Shinigami moved to put his arms around Heero, stopping halfway as his body began to glow. He began to rise up, Heero's arms slipping from around him; Heero falling to the floor. The glow around Shinigami's body began to grow stronger, licking over the skin like flames.   
"No..." Heero reached up to him. "Please, don't leave me!"  
Shinigami's body bent forward as a beautiful pair of black wings grew out from his back, scattering feathers about and tearing his shirt to shreds. His body bent back again, his arms and legs stretched out, his long hair flailing around his thin form as the glow centered on his bare chest.  
Heero pulled himself to his feet, straining to see the forming marks.   
"The value of loving and being loved in return is a very powerful lesson to learn. Now this lesson has been learnt, forgiveness has been awarded." Heero's eyes widened as the years that the body before him had gained overnight were stripped away, returning to the age it was the moment Duo died. The glow faded, and Shinigami lowered to the floor.  
"Duo...Shinigami..." Heero crouched down next to the fallen boy, lifting his head into his lap and gently stroking the boy's cheek. His eyelids flicked for a moment, before lifting.  
  
  
"Hey, Heero..." I smile a little and reach my hand up to clasp his.   
"Shini...?"  
"You freed him, Heero...you broke the curse..." I hold his hand to my lips, placing a tender kiss on his knuckles. "You released him, and revived me."  
Heero looks a little confused. "What...what happened to him?"  
"See for yourself." I motion behind him, and he turns. Shinigami is standing there, a faint smile on his face.   
"Thank you, Heero." He mouths as another shape steps from the shadows. It is a young boy, with beautiful green eyes and messy brown hair. Shinigami turns, extending a hand to the young boy.  
Heero looks at me, still confused.  
"He can't talk on this level anymore."  
"Who is..?"  
"That's the one he loves. That boy has waited for him, since the day he was killed."  
"Ah." Heero turns to look at them again, a small smile on his lips.   
Heero and I watch as Shinigami takes the boy into his arms, stroking his hair and whispering loving words. The boy looks at us, mouthing 'Thankyou...for sending him back. Goodbye...'. He nuzzles back into Shinigami, and the pair fade away.  
"I'm really gonna miss him."  
Heero turns back toward me. "I mean, he's been part of me for my entire life...and even before that." I smile a little. "But he has his happiness now."  
"Oh..." Heero shifts a little to stand up. I keep hold of his hand, using it to pull myself up and keep him crouched down so our lips meet for the first time. The kiss is short, and as I try to pull away, he tries to follow. I press a finger to his lips, silencing any protest.  
"He has his happiness, and we can have ours. I love you, Heero."  
  
**

**And certainly, no one told me it would change my life.**  
  
{kizutsuita kuroi tsubasa tsuki no akari ni  
terasarete utsukushiku maiagare  
shinkou no kuchidzuke ga ima kokoro no oku ni  
nagare komu soshite yume no naka e ...}  
[Injured black wings glimmer beautifully  
As they soar in the light of the moon  
Now, the crimson kiss has founds its way into my heart,  
And will soon flow into my dream...]


End file.
